The present invention relates to the discovery of a new and distinct cultivar of southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium hybrid) plant. The parents of the new variety are Palmetto and Reveille. The male parent of the new Vaccinium plant variety ‘Southern Splendour’ is ‘Palmetto’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,756). The female parent of the new Vaccinium plant variety ‘Southern Splendour’ is Reveille, which is a non-patented variety released by North Carolina State University in 1990. The new plant variety ‘Southern Splendour’ has been evaluated and tested in Waycross, Ga. and Griffin, Ga.
The new Vaccinium plant variety ‘Southern Splendour’ has been shown to maintain its distinguishing characteristics through successive asexual propagations by, for example, softwood cuttings. Plants from softwood cuttings have been directly planted in the ground. Clones propagated from cuttings have maintained the vegetative and fruit characteristics of the original selection. The original means of asexual reproduction was a seedling derived from the cross of Palmetto and Reveille. From the original plant, softwood cuttings were taken in Griffin, Ga. in 2001 to multiply the original. Subsequent propagations were made from those plants via softwood propagation in the years to follow as needed. All softwood cuttings appeared true to type, with no deviations observed.
‘Southern Splendour’ has been compared with southern highbush cultivars ‘Rebel’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 18,138), ‘Palmetto’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,756), and ‘Reveille’ (not patented). The fruit of ‘Southern Splendour’ is larger than the fruit of ‘Palmetto.’ The fruit development period of ‘Southern Splendour’ is 54 to 58 days, shorter than the fruit development period of ‘Palmetto’, which is 65-69 days.
The chilling requirement of ‘Southern Splendour’ is 450 to 500 hours of temperatures at or below 7 C, compared to 350 to 400 hours for ‘Palmetto’ and over 700 hours for ‘Reveille’. The cold hardiness of ‘Southern Splendour’ is similar to ‘Star’ and ‘Rebel’. Resistance to diseases of ‘Southern Splendour’ is also similar to ‘Star’, ‘Rebel’, and ‘Palmetto’, with no exceptional disease resistance or susceptibility observed.